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MUSEUM  OF  FINE  ARTS,  BOSTON 

SYNOPSIS  OF  HISTORY 


WITH  SPECIAL  REFERENCE  TO 


ARCHITECTURE,  PAINTING,  SCULPTURE 
AND  THE  DERIVATIVE  ARTS 


In  the  Synopsis  Europe  and  America  are  grouped  under  the 
title  “Europe”;  Egypt,  Byzantium  (Constantinople),  and  Arabia 
under  the  title  “The  Levant”;  Asia  Minor,  Mesopotamia,  Persia, 
and  Turkestan  under  the  title  “Western  Asia.” 


19  2  2 

Price,  Twenty-five  Cents 

Per  dozen,  $2.50  Per  hundred,  $15 


Copyright,  1922,  Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  Boston,  Mass. 


3  0112  098216135 

PARTIAL  GLOSSARY  OF  NAMES  AND  TERMS 


AHMED  ARABI  PASHA.  Officer  in  the 
Egyptian  army  who  led  a  strike  of  native 
Egyptian  officers  in  1881.  Resulted  in  so- 
called  Arabi  Rebellion  and  armed  interven¬ 
tion  of  England. 

AHMED  IBN  TULUN.  Founder  of  the 
Tulanite  Dynasty  in  Egypt;  builder  of  the 
Cairene  mosque  that  bears  his  name. 

AIYUBIDE  DYNASTY.  The  descendants 
of  Aiyub,  of  which  the  most  distinguished 
was  Saladin. 

AJANTA.  A  village  in  western  India,  the 
northwestern  corner  of  Haidar  ab  ad,  Deccan, 
where  there  are  excavated  temples  decorated 
with  Buddhist  paintings. 

ALHAMBRA.  Palace  at  Granada,  the 
finest  example  of  Moorish  architec¬ 
ture  (’'Arabesque”  decoration  in  wood 
and  plaster).  The  pottery  (tiles)  of  the 
Moors,  inspired  by  the  porcelain  of  China 
and  later  referred  to  the  Island  of 
Majorca,  gave  its  name  to  Italian  ma¬ 
jolica. 

AMON  —  AMON-RA.  The  great  Egyp¬ 
tian  Sun-God  especially  prominent  in  the 
New  Empire,  with  his  cult  centre  at  Thebes. 
In  the  decadent  period,  XX  and  XXI 
Dynasties,  1200-945  B.  C.,  the  priests  of 
Amon  were  the  virtual  rulers  of  Egypt. 

AMR  IBU-EL-'AS.  General  of  the  Caliph 
Omar;  conqueror  of  Egypt,  639-642. 

ANGKOR  WAT.  Best  known  and  latest  of 
the  great  Hindu  temples  or  palaces  of  Cam¬ 
bodia. 

ANURADHAPURA,  an  ancient  Buddhist  city 
of  Ceylon,  containing  ruins  of  important 
early  architecture  and  sculpture. 

ARYA.  The  word  means  “noble,”  and  is 
applied  to  the  earliest  known  invaders  of 
India.  As  distinguished  from  the  short, 

dark  aborigines,  the  Aryans  were  tall  and 
fair.  They  entered  India  from  the  north¬ 
west,  bringing  with  them  the  elements  of  a 
culture  which  has  given  to  the  country  as  a 
whole  its  distinctive  character.  Their 
language,  known  in  a  later  literary  form  as 
Sanskrit,  belonged  to  the  same  family  as 
Persian,  Latin,  Greek,  English  and  other 


European  and  Asiatic  languages;  from  it 
have  been  evolved  Marathi,  Hindi,  Bengali 
and  other  Indian  languages;  and  the  term 

Aryan  is  sometimes  applied  to  the  whole 
family. 

ARYA  SURA,  a  Mahayana  Buddhist  poet. 

ASANGA.  A  famous  Buddhist  philosopher 
and  exponent  of  the  Mahayana;  founder  of 
the  Yogacara  school,  differing  from  the 
Madhyamikas  in  admitting  the  reality  of 
consciousness. 

ASHIKAGA.  A  powerful  Japanese  family 
which  contributed  fifteen  successive  Shoguns, 
some  of  whom  were  great  patrons  of  art. 

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ASOKA.  A  Maurya  king  of  nearly  all 
India.  The  country  is  dotted  with  his 
edicts  graven  in  stone.  He  was  a  devout 
Buddhist,  and  did  more  than  any  other  man 
to  spread  that  religion. 

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ASVAGHOSHA,  a  famous  Mahayana  Bud¬ 
dhist  teacher,  poet,  musician  and  scholar. 

AVICENNA.  Arabian  physician  and  phil¬ 
osopher. 

BACON,  ROGER.  Philosopher;  twice 
imprisoned  for  heresy;  anticipated  the 
Renaissance  spirit  of  independent  in¬ 
quiry. 

BAROQUE.  Extravagant  style  of  decora¬ 
tion  characteristic  of  the  seventeenth 
century.  (Portuguese,  barrueco,  an  ir¬ 
regular  pearl.) 

BAYEUX  TAPESTRY.  A  strip  of  linen 
231  feet  long  and  20  inches  wide,  em¬ 
broidered  by  Matilda,  queen  of  William 
the  Conqueror,  with  scenes  from  the 
Norman  Conquest;  preserved  at  Bayeux, 
France. 

BHUVANESVARA,  in  Orissa,  where  there  are 
hundreds  of  Hindu  temples  dating  from  the 
9th  to  the  13th  century. 

BIHZAD,  the  most  renowned  of  Persian  paint¬ 
ers  and  illuminators. 

BODHIDHARMA.  The  28th  Indian  and  1st 
Chinese  Buddhist  patriarch.  He  founded 
the  Dhydna  ( Ch'an ,  Zen)  sect. 


BRAHMAGUPTA,  an  Indian  mathematician 
and  astronomer. 

BUDDHISM,  (a)  Hlnayana,  the  monastic 
system  and  intellectual  discipline  of  Gautama 
Buddha;  (b)  Mahay  ana,  the  later  theistic 
and  mystical  development.  In  India,  extinct 
or  assimilated  to  Hinduism  by  the  twelfth 
century  A.  D.  Survives  in  Ceylon,  Burma, 
Nepal,  Tibet,  China,  Mongolia  and  Japan. 

BURGUNDY.  The  patronage  of  the 
Dukes  developed  weaving  at  Arras 
(whence  tapestries  are  called  arras,  or 
arazzi );  painting  through  van  Eyck  at 
Ghent;  and  sculpture  through  Claus 
Sluter  at  Dijon. 

BYZANTINE.  The  art  of  the  Empire  found¬ 
ed  by  Constantine  the  Great  at  Byzantium 
(Constantinople).  Byzantine  (Coptic)  Pe¬ 
riod;  Christian  period  in  Egypt,  from  the 
Emperor  Arcadius  to  the  Mohammedan 
conquest. 

CASSITES,  who  ruled  Babylonia  for  nearly 
600  years,  came  from  the  region  to  the  north¬ 
east. 

CHAITANYA,  a  Vaishnava  mystical  poet  and 
singer  of  Bengal. 

CHARLEMAGNE  recreated  the  Western 
Roman  Empire,  began  the  expulsion  of 
the  Moors  from  Spain,  protected  letters, 
designed  the  Cathedral  of  Aix-la-Chapelle 
where  he  is  buried. 

CHARLES  VIII.  The  French  king  whose 
entry  into  Italy  to  claim  the  throne  of 
Naples  began  the  period  of  foreign 
domination  which  lasted  until  Victor 
Emmanuel  became  King  in  1861  and 
during  which  Italy  passed  on  its  in¬ 
tellectual  predominance  in  Europe  to 
Northern  nations. 

CHEOPS  (Khufu).  Second  king  of  Dynasty 
IV;  buried  in  the  First  Pyramid  at  Giza; 
about  2850  B.  C. 

CHEPHREN  (KHAFRA).  Third  king  of 
Dynasty  IV;  buried  in  the  Second  Pyramid 
at  Giza;  about  2800  B.  C. 

CH’IN  DYNASTY.  Notable  for  including 
among  its  rulers  the  famous  soldier,  ad¬ 
ministrator  and  builder  of  the  Great  Wall, 
Shih  Huang  Ti,  who  called  himself  First 
Emperor,  and  decreed  that  Chinese  history 
should  begin  with  his  reign.  He  therefore 
ordered  the  destruction  of  nearly  all  books 
then  existing. 


CHINGIZ  KHAN.  A  famous  ruler  of  the 
Mongols.  He  conquered  Northern  China, 
then  controlled  by  the  Nii-chen  Tartars, 
Korea  and  Central  Asia. 

CHUANG-TZU,  the  principal  disciple  of 
Lao-tzu. 

CLASSICAL  REVIVAL.  An  enthusiasm 
for  classical  simplicity  which  after  the 
French  Revolution  displaced  the  Rococo 
style  identified  with  old  France  (“Di- 
reetoire”  1795-99;  “Empire,”  1804- 
1815). 

CONFUCIUS.  Compiler  of  ancient  records 
from  which  he  formulated  a  system  of  social 
ethics  on  which  the  Chinese  conduct  of  life 
in  all  its  relations  has  since  been  chiefly 
founded. 

CROMAGNON.  The  name  of  a  cave  in 
southwest  France  where  were  first  found 
skeletons  of  an  early  race  whose  remarkable 
paintings  of  animals  have  been  found  also  in 
caves  situated  in  northwestern  Spain. 

CRUSADES.  Campaigns  of  western 
Europeans  in  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth 
centuries  to  recapture  Jerusalem  from  the 
Turks  and  Arabs. 

EGYPTIAN  RENAISSANCE.  Period  of 
renewed  prosperity  and  power,  in  Dynasty 
XXVI,  marked  by  a  revival  of  the  ancient 
styles  in  art,  religion  and  literature.  An 
archaistic  age.  The  center  of  culture  at 
Sais,  a  town  in  the  Delta. 

ELEPHANTA.  An  island  in  the  harbor 
of  Bombay,  where  there  are  caves  con¬ 
taining  important  Hindu  sculptures. 

EL-HAKIM.  A  fanatic  follower  of  the  Per¬ 
sian  Ed-Darazi;  claimed  to  be  an  incarna¬ 
tion  of  God;  founder  of  the  Druse  sect. 

ELURA.  A  town  in  western  India,  not  far 
from  Bombay,  where  there  are  many  im¬ 
portant  remains  of  Hindu  and  Buddhist 
sculpture  and  architecture. 

ETHIOPIA.  The  Nile  valley  south  of 
Egypt,  from  the  Second  Cataract  to  Khar¬ 
toum.  About  720  B.  C.  the  kings  of 
Ethiopia  conquered  Egypt  and  ruled  it 
until  expelled  by  the  Assyrians,  661  B.  C. 

FA-HSIEN,  a  Chinese  Buddhist  priest  who 
wrote  an  account  of  his  travels  through  Cen¬ 
tral  Asia,  India  and  Indonesia. 


FRANCIS  OF  ASSISI.  The  saintly 
founder  of  the  mendicant  order  of  Fran¬ 
ciscan  monks. 

FRENCH  ACADEMY.  A  self  perpetuat¬ 
ing  association  of  forty  members  founded 
by  Richelieu  to  be  the  arbiter  of  French 
speech  and  literature. 

FUJIWARA.  A  powerful  Japanese  clan  which 
for  more  than  two  centuries  held  the  reins 

-  of  government  and  provided  eleven  regents. 

GANDHARA.  The  Hindu  name  of  a 
region  in  the  far  northwest  of  India;  a 
focus  of  Buddhism  and  of  Buddhist  art 
executed  in  a  degenerate  Greek  style. 

GENROKU.  The  name  of  that  part  of  the 
reign  of  the  Emperor  Higashiyama  of  Japan 
during  which,  under  the  rule  of  the  fifth 
Tokugawa  Shogun,  the  country  in  general 
and  the  common  people  in  particular  enjoyed 
unparalleled  peace  and  luxury. 

GIOTTO.  Earliest  Italian  painter  and 
architect  to  attain  first  rank. 

GOLDEN  GATE,  Freiberg  Cathedral,  con¬ 
tains  the  finest  sculptured  figures  of  their 
time  in  Germany;  others  similar  at 
Naumberg,  Bamberg,  Strassburg  and 
elsewhere. 

GOTHIC  ART.  The  architecture  and 
decoration  that  grew  out  of  the  use  of  the 
pointed  arch  in  ribbed  vaulting;  and 
acute  angles  in  ornament.  Originally  a 
term  of  contempt  used  by  Renaissance 
architects  for  the  preceding  non-classical 
style. 

GOTHS.  A  Teutonic  race  from  the  lower 
Danube  which  invaded  the  Roman  Em¬ 
pire  in  the  third  and  fourth  centuries. 

GRANADA.  The  last  stronghold  of  Sara¬ 
cen  dominion  in  Spain,  taken  after  a 
year’s  siege  by  Ferdinand  of  Aragon  and 
Isabella  of  Castile. 

GREGORY  VII.  The  Pope  who  wrote  to 
William  the  Conqueror  comparing  the 
papal  and  kingly  powers  to  the  sun  and 
the  moon,  and  in  whose  castle  courtyard 
at  Canossa  Henry  II,  Emperor  of  Ger¬ 
many,  waited  three  wintry  days  in  sack¬ 
cloth  for  the  Pope’s  forgiveness. 

GURU  NANAK  followed,  in  general,  the 
teachings  of  Kablr  and  founded  the  Sikh 
sect. 


HAKUHO.  Though  the  name  of  the  reign  of 
the  Emperor  Temmu  (672-685),  it  is  applied 
in  Japanese  art  history  to  the  period  from 
about  645  to  709,  during  which  time  Japan 
began  to  have  direct  and  close  intercourse 
with  China. 

HALLSTATT  PERIOD.  The  knowledge  of 
iron  reached  the  Upper  Danube  basin  and  a 
series  of  movements  southward,  southeast 
and  westward  from  this  region  began.  The 
invaders  were  mixed  Nordics  and  Alpines 
armed  with  iron  swords.  Hallstatt,  Upper 
Austria,  is  the  type  site  of  the  period. 

HAMMURABI.  Founder  of  the  old  Baby¬ 
lonian  Empire. 

HEIDELBERG.  The  castle  is  the  most 
sumptuous  example  of  German  Renais¬ 
sance  architecture. 

HIJRA.  The  flight  of  Muhammad  from 
Mecca  to  Medina,  with  which  the  Muham¬ 
madan  calendar  begins. 

HINDUISM.  Indian  theism,  the  worship  of 

a  personal  god  (usually  Vishnu  or  Siva,  or 
some  form  of  Devi);  together  with  its  philo¬ 
sophic  background.  In  English  and  Indian 
usage,  the  term  “Hindu”  cannot  include  Mu¬ 
hammadans;  in  American  and  French  usage 
it  signifies  any  native  of  India. 

HITTITES.  Nations  occupying  North  Syria 
and  neighboring  Asia  Minor. 

HOLY  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  The  realm  of 
the  German  Emperors,  interdependent 
with  the  Papacy,  and  claiming  authority 
from  the  Caesars.  The  last  claimant, 
Francis  I  of  Austria,  abdicated  1806. 

HSUAN-TSANG,  a  Chinese  Buddhist  pil¬ 
grim  who  wrote  an  account  of  his  travelj 
through  Central  Asia  and  India. 

HUMANISM.  The  devotion  of  Italian 
scholars  of  the  fifteenth  century,  first  to 
Latin,  and  later  to  Greek  literature. 

HUNS.  Invaders  of  Europe  from  Central 
Asia  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries. 

HYKSOS.  A  group  of  Asiatic  invaders  who 
conquered  and  ruled  Egypt,  about  1700-1580 
B.C. 

I-CHING,  a  Chinese  Buddhist  priest  who 
wrote  an  account  of  his  travels  in  Indonesia 
and  India. 


IKHENATON  (Amenophis  IV).  A  king  of 
Dynasty  XVIII  in  Egypt.  He  under¬ 
took  a  religious  reform  under  the  name  of 
Ikhenaton  in  an  attempt  to  break  the  grow¬ 
ing  power  of  the  Amon  priesthood.  The 
attempt  was  successful  only  for  the  period  of 
his  short  life. 

IMPRESSIONISM.  The  tendency  to  lay 
chief  stress  on  reproducing  the  actual 
visual  impression  of  a  scene,  particularly 
that  of  light. 

IN DO-IRANIAN  CULTURE:  the  common 
basis  in  Central  Asia  of  Aryan  culture  in 
Persia  (Zend  Avesta,  etc.)  and  in  India 
(Vedas),  before  the  migrations  into  Persia 
and  India. 

INDONESIA.  Sumatra,  Java,  etc. 

JAYADEVA,  a  poet,  native  of  Bengal,  author 
of  the  Gita  Govinda,  a  kind  of  lyric  drama 
dealing  with  the  love  story  of  Krishna  and 
Radha. 

JOGAN.  The  name  of  the  reign  of  the  Japan¬ 
ese  Emperor  Seiwa  (859-876),  but  in  art 
history  applied  to  the  period  from  794  to 
899  during  which  time  esoteric  Buddhism 
exerted  a  powerful  influence  over  art. 

KABIR,  mystical  poet;  a  weaver;  disciple  of 
Ramananda.  The  Kablrpanthis,  or  “travel¬ 
lers  on  the  wTay  of  Kabir,”  include  both 
Hindus  and  Musalmans. 

KALIDASA,  the  chief  Sanskrit  dramatist  and 
* 

poet;  author  of  Sakuntala. 

KAMAKURA.  The  first  seat  of  the  Shdgun- 
ate;  was  once  the  populous  capital  of  eastern 
Japan.  Among  the  few  important  remains, 
the  thirteenth  century  bronze  figure  of 
Amida,  nearly  fifty  feet  high,  is  well-known. 

KANO  ACADEMY.  A  Japanese  family 
of  painters  founded  by  Kano  Masanobu 
and  his  son  Motonobu. 

KONARAK,  in  Orissa,  where  there  is  an 
important  temple  of  the  Sun,  with  splendid 
sculptures. 

KORAI.  A  dynasty  under  which  Korea  be¬ 
came  unified  and  made  notable  contributions 
to  art. 

KUNIKA  AJATASATRU.  A  king  of  the 

Saisunaga  dynasty,  whose  name  is  inscribed 
on  the  “Parkham  statue,”  probably  the 
earliest  Indian  sculpture  extant. 


LAMAISM.  A  type  of  Buddhism  character¬ 
istic  of  Tibet,  but  recognized  also  by  Nepal¬ 
ese,  Mongol,  Tartar  and  many  Chinese, 
Buddhists. 

LAO-TZU.  One  of  China’s  greatest  phil¬ 
osophers.  His  interpretation  of  the  Tao 
or  “Way”  formulates  a  universal  law  of 
conduct. 

LEGNANO.  Scene  of  the  victory  of  Milan 
and  other  Lombard  cities,  aided  by  the 
Pope,  over  Frederick  I.,  Barbarossa, 
which  established  the  independence  of  the 
North  Italian  cities. 

LEPANTO.  Naval  battle  against  the 
Turks,  in  which  Cervantes,  author  of 
Don  Quixote,  though  stricken  with  fever, 
fought  and  was  wounded,  losing  the  use 
of  his  left  hand  “for  the  greater  glory  of 
the  right.” 

LOUIS  XIV.  “The  grand  monarch”;  the 
most  magnificent  and  arbitrary  of  the 
French  kings;  patron  of  art,  creator  of 
Versailles. 

MAHABHARATA.  One  of  the  two  great 
Sanskrit  epic  poems.  It  tells  of  the  war 
between  the  Kauravas  and  the  Pandavas. 
An  important,  though  later,  insertion  is  the 
BhagavadgUa,  a  philosophical  poem  in  the 
form  of  a  dialogue  between  the  avatar 
Krishna  and  Arjuna  Pandava.  One  of  the 
best  known  episodes  is  the  story  of  Nala 
and  Damayanti.  See  Ramayana. 

MAHAVIRA.  The  common  appellation  of 
Vardhamana,  founder  of  Jainism. 

MAMALLAPURAM,  in  Southern  India,  near 
Madras,  was  a  focus  of  Pallava  art,  including 
the  “Seven  Pagodas,”  temples  and  reliefs  cut 
in  the  living  rock. 

MAMLUK  BEYS.  The  twenty-four  provin¬ 
cial  princes  of  Egypt  who  governed  the 
country  from  1520  to  the  time  of  Muhammad 
Ali;  nominally  subject  to  the  Ottoman 
Sultan;  the  last  prince  massacred  in  1803  by 
Muhammad  Ali. 

MANCHU.  The  name  of  a  Tartar  people 
inhabiting  a  region  northeast  of  China. 

MARCO  POLO.  The  first  European  trav¬ 
eler  in  China  and  Japan  to  write  an  ac¬ 
count  of  his  journey. 

MARTEL,  CHARLES.  Began  the  ex¬ 
pulsion  of  the  Moors  from  Europe,  which 
was  carried  on  by  his  grandson,  Charle¬ 
magne  in  Spain,  and  was  completed  in 
the  conquest  of  Granada. 


MEIJI.  The  name  of  the  reign  of  the  late 
Emperor  Meiji  of  Japan. 

MENCIUS,  the  principal  exponent  of  Con- 
fucian  teachings. 

MENES.  The  founder  of  Dynasty  I  of 
Egyptian  kings.  His  date  is  variously  given 
by  Egyptologists,  but  the  most  conservative 
estimates  place  him  at  about  3300  B.  C.,  plus 
or  minus  100  years. 

MEROITIC.  The  Meroitic  Kingdom  was 
the  successor  of  the  Ethiopian  on  the 
upper  Nile,  with  its  capital  at  Meroe. 
Meroitic  Art  is  the  result  of  Greek  influence 
on  the  local  decadent  Egyptian  culture 
originated  in  the  Ethiopian  Kingdom. 

MINOAN.  A  term  widely  used  to  designate 
the  bronze-age  civilization  in  the  Aegean, 
the  most  important  center  of  which  was  in 
Crete.  Minos,  a  semi-legendary  king  of 
Crete,  reigned  over  the  islands  of  the  Aegean 
three  generations  before  the  Trojan  War. 

MOMOYAMA.  The  name  of  a  hill  between 
Kyoto  and  Nara  on  which  stood  the  palace  of 
the  great  soldier  Hideyoshi,  who,  in  1582, 
succeeded  in  making  himself  virtually  ruler 
of  Japan,  a  position  which  he  maintained 
until  his  death. 

MUGHAL,  or  Mogul,  and  Mongol  are  different 
forms  of  the  same  word.  Mughal  is  com¬ 
monly  applied  to  the  Muhammadan  Turks 
represented  by  Babur  and  his  successors  in 
India,  while  the  term  Mongol  is  reserved  for 
the  “narrow  eyed  hordes”  led  by  Chingiz 
Khan. 

MUSLIM  (SARACEN)  PERIOD.  From 
the  conquest  of  Egypt  by  the  Arabian  Mu¬ 
hammadans  to  the  present  day.  Egypt  be¬ 
comes  a  Muslim  (Moslem),  i.  e.,  Muham¬ 
madan,  country. 

MYCENAE.  The  legendary  capital  of 
Agamemnon,  a  focus  of  prehistoric 
Aegean  civilization. 

MYCERINUS  (Mcnkauwra).  Fifth  king  of 
Dynasty  IV;  buried  in  the  Third  Pyramid 
at  Giza  about  2750  B.  C. 

NAGARJUNA,  a  famous  Buddhist  patriarch; 
exponent  of  the  Mahayana  or  Great  Vehicle 
of  salvation;  founder  of  the  Madhyamika 
school,  the  Buddhist  counterpart  or  rather 
adaptation  of  the  Vedanta,  maintaining  the 
entire  unreality  of  the  phenomenal  world. 

NALANDA  UNIVERSITY.  The  principal 
seat  of  Buddhist  learning  in  Northern  India. 


NAUCRATIS.  A  city  in  the  western  Delta 
built  by  King  Amasis  about  560  B.  C.  for 
the  Greek  merchants  and  colonists  in  Egypt. 
Essentially  a  Greek  community  where  Greek 
art  and  religion  flourished. 

NEO-CONFUCIANISM,  so-called,  was  the 
important  intellectual  outcome  of  combined 
Taoist,  Confucian  and  Buddhist  influences. 

NICCOLO  PISANO  (Nicholas  of  Pisa). 
Earliest  Italian  sculptor  to  attain  first 
rank. 

NISIN,  in  Northern  Babylonia,  was  the  capital 
of  the  Amorites  who  ruled  the  country. 

OTTOMANS.  The  race  of  central  Asiatics 
(Turks)  that  founded  and  have  ruled  the 
Turkish  Empire. 

PANINI,  the  famous  grammarian,  author  of 
the  oldest  extant  Sanskrit  grammar,  written 
to  insure  accurate  interpretation  of  the 
sacred  texts. 

PATANJALI,  a  famous  grammarian  and  com¬ 
mentator  on  Vedic  literature. 

PERICLES.  Ruler  of  Athens  during  its 
most  brilliant  period. 

PETRARCH.  “The  first  modern  man.” 
Devotee  of  outdoor  beauty  and  of  pagan 
literature  instead  of  scholastic  learning; 
writer  of  Sonnets  to  Laura  in  the  vernac¬ 
ular. 

PISISTRATUS.  Tyrant  of  Athens. 

PRAGUE.  The  earliest  German  university. 

PREDYNASTIC  PERIOD.  The  earliest 
period  of  Egyptian  History,  before  the 
country  was  united  under  a  single  ruler. 
Neolithic  and  Bronze  Age  culture.  The 
beginnings  of  art,  handicrafts,  and  hiero¬ 
glyphic  writing. 

PTOLEMAIC.  The  period  following  the 
Conquest  of  Egypt  by  Alexander  the  Great 
in  332  B.  C.  A  series  of  rulers  named 
Ptolemy  reigned  in  Egypt,  and  Greek  cul¬ 
ture  was  spread  throughout  the  country, 
bringing  the  Hellenizing  of  Egyptian  art. 
The  period  was  ended  by  the  Roman  Con¬ 
quest,  30  B.  C. 

PYRAMIDS.  The  tombs  of  the  kings  of 
Egypt  in  the  Old  Kingdom,  3000-2400 
B.  C.  The  “Great  Pyramids”  were  built 
by  three  kings  of  Dynasty  IV.  They  are 
rectangular  masonry  structures  with  inclined 
sides  rising  to  a  point.  The  royal  mummy 
was  buried  in  a  small  chamber  reached  by  a 
complicated  series  of  passages. 


RABELAIS.  His  books  entitled  “  Gargan- 
tua”  and  “Pantagruel”  represent  an  en¬ 
lightened  paganism  and  satirize  Mediaeval 
asceticism. 

RAJPUTS.  The  inhabitants  of  Rajputana, 
Central  India. 

RAMANANDA,  a  northern  follower  of  the 
teachings  of  Ramanuja;  preached  in  the 
vernacular. 

RAMANUJA.  Tho  greatest  philosopher  and 
teacher  of  the  Vaishnava  cult;  exponent  of 
the  Upanishads  as  Visishtadvaita  or  “modi¬ 
fied  monism.” 

RAM  A  YANA.  One  of  the  two  great  San¬ 
skrit  epic  poems.  It  is  essentially  the 
work  of  a  single  author,  Valmlki,  and 
tells  the  story  of  Prince  Rama  and  his 
wife  Sit  a.  See  Mahdbharata. 

RAVENNA.  On  the  Adriatic,  south  of 
Venice;  seat  of  Gothic  (fifth  century) 
and  Byzantine  (sixth  century)  power  in 
Italy. 

RENAISSANCE.  The  impulse  to  ob¬ 
servation  that  replaced  reliance  upon 
tradition  first  in  Italy  (Dante,  Petrarch), 
later  throughout  Europe  (Printing,  Co¬ 
lumbus,  Copernicus). 

RHAGES  POTTERY.  Pottery  found  in 
Persia  decorated  with  an  iridescent  metallic 
film. 

RIGVEDA.  A  collection  of  hymns  in 
praise  of  the  powers  of  nature  worshipped 
as  gods.  The  oldest  of  the  Vedic  com¬ 
positions. 

ROCOCO.  Extravagant  style  of  decora¬ 
tion  characteristic  of  the  eighteenth  cen¬ 
tury;  so  called  from  the  rock  work  it 
frequently  contained. 

ROMANESQUE.  At  first  a  continuation 
of  the  basilican  architecture  of  Rome;  in 
the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries  de¬ 
veloped  by  vaulting  and  otherwise. 

ROMANTICISM.  The  tendency  to  en¬ 
joy  one’s  own  emotions  over  things  as 
opposed  to  classicism,  the  tendency  to 
enjoy  things  themselves. 

RUMI  (Jalalu-d-Din).  The  great  mystic  poet 
of  Persia. 

ST.  PAUL  OUTSIDE  THE  WALLS, 
ROME.  Chief  monument  of  early 
Christian  architecture.  Burned  1823; 
since  restored. 


SAIVA  CULT.  A  form  of  Hinduism  in  which 
greatest  veneration  is  paid  to  Siva. 

SALAMIS.  Naval  defeat  of  Persians  by 
Greeks  off  Athens. 

SANKARACHARYA.  A  Brahman  of  Mala¬ 
bar,  who  taught  the  Vedanta  philosophy; 
exponent  of  the  Upanishads  as  Advaita,  or 
pure  monism. 

SANTI  JDEVA.  A  Mahay  ana  Buddhist  poet. 

SARACENS.  Arab  followers  of  Muham¬ 
mad;  conquered  the  Levant  in  the 
seventh  century,  North  Africa  and  Spain 
in  the  eighth,  and  checked  at  Tours  in 
732. 

SEA  ROUTE  TO  INDIA.  The  discovery 
of  Vasco  da  Gama,  who  was  led,  like 
Columbus  and  other  contemporary  ex¬ 
plorers,  by  the  desire  to  obtain,  otherwise 
than  over  land,  the  spices  then  used  in¬ 
stead  of  ice  to  preserve  food. 

SHINTO.  The  indigenous  religion  of  Japan. 
Its  gods  have  been  absorbed  into  the  Bud¬ 
dhist  pantheon,  but  it  is  still  practised  apart 
from  Buddhism  as  well  as  in  conjunction 
with  it. 

SHOGUNATE.  The  Shogun,  the  highest 
military  officer  under  the  Emperor,  was, 
from  1192  until  1868,  the  actual  ruler  of 
Japan.  The  first  great  Shogun  was  Yori- 
tomo. 

SHOTOKU  TAISHI,  prince  regent  under  the 
Empress  Suiko,  was  the  first  important  pa¬ 
tron  of  Buddhism  in  Japan.  He  carried  out 
also  important  governmental  and  other  re¬ 
forms  based  on  Chinese  ideas. 

SIX  DYNASTIES.  Those  in  the  North  were 
Tartar,  and  under  them  the  earliest  extant 
Buddhist  art  in  China  was  produced;  those 
in  the  South  were  Chinese. 

SLUTER,  CLAUS.  Flemish  sculptor  who 
produced  at  Dijon  between  1390  and  1405 
sculpture  equalling  contemporary  work 
in  Italy. 

SNEFERUW  First  king  of  Dynasty  IV  or 
last  king  of  Dynasty  III;  builder  of  a  pyramid 
at  Dashur  and  of  step-pyramid  at  Medum. 

SSU-MA  CH'IEN,  the  greatest  of  Chinese 
historians. 

SUI  DYNASTY.  This  dynasty  united  the 
Empire  again  under  Chinese  rule. 


SUIKO.  The  name  of  a  Japanese  empress 
during  whose  reign  great  reforms  were  car¬ 
ried  out,  under  the  supervision  of  her  regent, 
Shotoku  Taishi  (q.  v.). 

SUMER  AND  AKKAD.  South  and  North 
Babylonia  in  pre-Babylonian  times. 

TAISHO.  The  name  of  the  reign  of  the  pres¬ 
ent  Emperor  of  Japan. 

TAOIST  PHILOSOPHY,  founded  on  the 
teachings  attributed  to  Lao-tzu;  its  greatest 
exponent  was  Chuang-tzu.  The  Taoist 
church,  however,  is  little  more  than  a  mixture 
of  pure  magic  with  Buddhist  ritual. 

TEMPYO.  Though  strictly  speaking  the 
name  of  that  part  of  the  reign  of  the  Japan¬ 
ese  Emperor  Shomu  from  729  to  748,  it  is 
applied  in  art  history  to  the  period  from 
about  710  to  793,  which  is  considered  the 
golden  period  of  Japanese  Buddhist  art. 

LA  TENE  PERIOD.  Named  from  a  Swiss 
lake-dwelling  site.  In  this  second  period  of 
the  Early  Iron  age,  the  knowledge  of  this 
metal  reached  Britain  and  Scandinavia. 
Urban  life  began  in  Central  and  Western 
Europe.  Extensive  movements  of  Celtic 
speaking  tribes  occurred. 

THINITE  DYNASTIES.  Egyptian  Dy¬ 
nasties  I  and  II  (about  3500-3000  B.  C.), 
which  ruled  at  the  city  of  This,  just  north  of 
Abydos. 

TIMUR-I-LANG,  commonly  known  as  Tamer¬ 
lane.  A  Muhammadan  from  Central  Asia 
(Samarkand),  who  raided  and  pillaged  India 
as  far  south  as  Delhi. 

TOKUGAWA.  A  powerful  Japanese  family 
which  contributed  fifteen  successive  Shoguns. 

TREATY  OF  VERDUN.  Division  of 
Charlemagne’s  kingdom  among  three 
grandsons:  Charles  obtaining  what  is 
now  France;  Louis  what  is  now  Ger¬ 
many;  and  Lothaire  the  strip  between, 
from  Rome  to  the  North  Sea,  called 
Lotharii-Regnum,  whence  Lorraine. 

TULSI  DAS.  Composed  the  Ramcharit- 
mdnas,  a  Hindi  version  of  the  Ram  ay  ana. 

UIGUR  ECLECTIC  ART.  The  Uigurs  were 
a  Turkish  tribe  from  China  who  ruled  Kash- 
garia,  in  Eastern  Turkestan,  from  the  10th 
to  the  12th  century. 

UKIYO-E.  “Pictures  of  the  fleeting  world.” 
The  popular  art,  —  prints,  paintings,  etc., 
—  of  old  Japan. 


UNIVERSITIES.  Bodies  of  students  and 
teachers  of  theology  (Paris),  law  (Bo¬ 
logna),  medicine  (Salerno)  in  the  eleventh 
and  twelfth  centuries;  founded  in  Eng¬ 
land  in  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  cen¬ 
turies,  in  Germany  in  the  fourteenth  cen¬ 
tury;  philosophy,  etc.  (India),  seventh  cen¬ 
tury  and  earlier. 

UPANISHADS.  Latest  books  of  the  Vedas , 
teaching  the  identity  of  the  ultimate  self  in 
the  individual  with  the  Supreme  Self,  the 
unconditioned  Brahman — “That  art  thou.” 
Systematized  later  as  the  Vedanta  by 
Sankaracharya  and  Ramanuja. 

UR-ENGUR  was  a  great  builder  of  Babylonian 
temples  and  towers. 

VAISHNAVA  CULT.  A  form  of  Hinduism 
in  which  greatest  veneration  is  paid  to  Vish¬ 
nu. 

VANDALS.  Teutonic  ravagers  of  Gaul, 
Spain,  Italy  and  North  Africa  in  the 
fifth  century. 

VAN  EYCK,  H.  Flemish  painter,  the 
earliest  to  use  oils  and  to  introduce  land¬ 
scape  into  his  pictures. 

VEDA  means  “knowledge.”  The  four  Vedas 
are  compositions  in  prose  and  verse  setting 
forth  the  philosophical  and  religious  ideas 

of  the  Aryans.  They  are  the  text-books 
of  the  Brahmans  and  are  regarded  by  Hindus 
as  the  foundation  of  their  system  of  life. 

VEDIC  ORTHODOXY.  Thought  and  be¬ 
havior  based  on  the  teachings  of  the  Vedas. 

VIJAYANAGAR.  A  large  Hindu  capital  near 
Madras,  destroyed  by  its  Muhammadan 
conquerors.  There  remain  important  ruins. 

S.  VITALE.  Byzantine  church  at  Ravenna. 
Italy.  Begun  about  A.  D.  500. 

WICLIF,  JOHN;  called  “the  morning  star 
of  the  Reformation.”  First  translator  of 
the  Bible  into  English. 

YORITOMO,  of  the  Minamoto  clan,  was 
founder  of  the  Shogunate  in  Japan. 

YUAN.  A  dynasty  inaugurated  by  Kublai 
Khan,  grandson  of  Chingiz  Khan;  from 
1278  it  controlled  all  China. 

ZEN  SECT  OF  BUDDHISM.  Zen  ( Dhydna 
in  Sanskrit  and  Ch'an  in  Chinese)  is  the  doc¬ 
trine  propounded  by  Bodhidharma,  whose 
followers  seek  freedom  from  worldly  thoughts 
and  acts  by  meditation  in  supreme  repose. 


SYNOPSIS  OF  HISTORY 

WITH  SPECIAL,  REFERENCE  TO  PAINTING,  SCULPTURE  AND  THE  DERIVATIVE  ARTS 


Prehistoric  times-2800  B.  C. 


2800-1550  B.  C. 


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